A Different Story
The Divergence of History
The world was... black. Or maybe dark gray. In any case, it was very dark. Was it navy blue, or- wait, was there a noise? It must have been silent before, because there was definitely a noise now, and it was different. Different from the silence, of course. He was pretty sure he hadn't heard another noise in a long time.
That sound, though - it was, what's it called... a voice. He was pretty sure it was called a voice, when a person was speaking. ...Hang on, a... a person? A voice had to belong to a person. Why couldn't he see the person? It was the voice of... a man? No, a woman's voice. He really couldn't tell.
A light! He had been so distracted by the voice that he hadn't noticed the faint light growing. The world was definitely gray now. The light, it was blurry, but it seemed... natural. Like sunlight. Sunlight... which meant he was outside. Outside. Inside. People, places, moving, feeling - he was starting to remember.
He stared at the blurry light. The world may have been gray before, but there was definitely blue now. It looked vaguely like a person.
"I see you're awake now."
It was definitely a person, and they were definitely outside. They... they included himself. Himself! He had to be a person, too. Moving, he thought to himself. I can move. The person, the man he saw, reached a hand out to help him up. Move my hand now, he instructed himself. Take his hand.
"There are better places to take a nap than on the ground, you know." He could see the man speak, now.
His vision came back in full, now, though he was very light-headed. The man wore blue, and had blue hair.
"Are you alright?" the man asked. He must have expressed his pain somehow, though he couldn't remember doing so. Perhaps he grunted or groaned.
"Y-yes... thank you. I'm just a bit... dizzy, I guess." So that was what speaking felt like.
"Good," the man sighed. "Might I ask why you're lying around in this field all alone?"
"I don't know. All I know is... is... gods, what's my name?" He was a person, so he ought to have a name, right?
"You don't know your own name?" the man asked, astounded.
"I'm afraid not, sorry," he apologized.
"Don't be. There's a town nearby. Perhaps if you rested there, you might recall something," the man suggested.
"Yes, perhaps. Speaking of towns, where am I, exactly?" he wondered.
"You truly remember nothing? Then, to answer your question, this is the halidom of Ylisse."
"Ylisse... and you said there was a town nearby?" he asked.
"Yes, it's only half a mile up this road," the man confirmed. "Shall we depart?"
"I suppose we might as well. While we walk, though, would you mind telling me more about these lands?"
"Huh? As in geography, politics, history..." the man inquired.
"Anything sounds good, really," he determined. "I just enjoy learning new things. I think."
"Very well. As I stated earlier, we are in Ylisse. To our west is Plegia, and Regna Ferox lies to the north. On our south and east borders are oceans, and no other kingdoms can be found on this continent."
"Is Ylisse at war?"
"... not yet." the man alluded.
"Not yet? What does that mean?" he asked, confused.
"Gangrel, King of Plegia, wishes for a war, but were he to declare it, he would lose his people's support. Instead, he sends small bands of mercenaries and bandits across the border, hoping the Exalt will retaliate."
"This Exalt, he is your king?"
"She is the Queen of Ylisse, yes," the man corrected.
"Ahh. That's quite a situation she's in. Does she show signs of giving in?" he wondered.
"Not at all. The Exalt is Ylisse's symbol for peace. It seems she would rather die than go to war," the man explained. "But until something is done, the villages suffer from-"
"Fire, and ruffians."
"Exactly," the man affirmed.
"No, look! The town, ... it's on fire!"
"... so it is. That is one such group from Plegia, I presume," the man spat in contempt. "I can fight. Can you?"
"I... have a sword. I suppose that means I can."
"Make haste, then," the man urged.
The pair rushed to the village, but as they neared, they could see a man in sky blue and gray armor holding a silver lance. The knight confronted a trio of mercenaries alone. The knight's horse reared, and when it landed on its front feet again, it rammed into the first ruffian, while its owner drove his lance into the second's stomach. The third, a mage, nearly removed his enemy from his mount, but in missing, was immediately impaled by the knight's weapon.
"That man... who is he?" he wondered.
"That is a member of the Shepherds, an elite team of fighters. They are the royal army's strike force during war, and in peacetime, they dedicate themselves to the protection of Ylisse's commonfolk. It wouldn't be unreasonable to assume there are several others down there, as well," the man informed him.
"We should help!" he exclaimed.
"You should rest," the man declared. "When I say they are skilled, I mean it. They can handle this."
"... if you say so," he complied. "Still, if they start to lose, I'm going down to help."
"Very well," the man allowed, "but don't worry. The one you see is Frederick the Wary. They say he once took on fifty soldiers single-handedly."
"Do you believe it?"
"I'm not sure, but either way, I'm certain he can hold his own against a couple of thugs," the man reassured him.
"Robin."
"... sorry?"
"My name is Robin. ... I just remembered that. Nothing else, though."
"Robin... is that foreign? Except you wouldn't remember," the man pondered.
"And you?" he questioned.
"Me?"
"What's your name?"
"My name... you may call me "Marth"."
Hey there! I'd ask you how you're doing, but I'm sure you know what's wrong with that. Anyway, I'm Exalted Fellblood (that's definitely not a reference), and this is my first FanFiction work. You can probably tell that I'm a bit weird, and if you're normal, you're probably thinking I'm more than a bit weird. Let's stop talking about me, though, and start talking about my stuff. And by 'stuff', I mean story.
This story will focus on the default male avatar Robin and the heroic king of old... *ahem*... I mean time-traveling princess Lucina as they try to save the world and protect Chrom from the sidelines. Eventually, they will meet up with Lucina's friends from the future, and rest assured, when I say 'from the sidelines', I mean that they will not join the Shepherds, at least not for a while. They will see plenty of battles of their own.
As for reviews, I'd love to hear what you have to say. Be it criticism or encouragement or both, I will try to take each into consideration. In terms of chapters, expect them to be longer than this, as it was just a prologue. Also, I should be able to write a new one each month, but hopefully I will be able to settle into a more regular schedule soon. Thanks for reading, and then doing whatever else it is you do when you read a story. Favorites are nice, but if this isn't one of your favorites, do the other authors a favor and leave that button alone. Also, if anyone has cover art that they would like to share, I'm open to looking at some, and I'll credit in the Author's Notes any artist whose work I use.
Just to be clear, I do not own Fire Emblem or any of its characters; they belong to Nintendo and Intelligent Systems.
Thanks again for reading,
-Exalted Fellblood